Marx Dormoy, Paul Constans, Pierre Goldberg… The history of the district of Montluçon was written with socialist and communist deputies. Since 1958, the only exceptions have been the centrists Maurice Brun, Jean Gravier and… Laurence Vanceunebrock.
A novice in politics in 2017, the policewoman (then LREM) had carried out a real hold-up in the second constituency of Allier, blocking the way for the mayor of Montluçon Daniel Dugléry (LR), who failed for the fourth and last time at the legislative elections.
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The breath of the presidential
Five years later, the Macronist parliamentarian got caught up in the game of politics and would see herself back in the Palais Bourbon for five years – the last time, she announces. Inevitably, it will benefit in the first round from the breath of the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, from the weakening of the major parties, but also from the expected scattering of votes among its competitors.
The results of the presidential election in the constituency in 2022. Premier tour : Nathalie Arthaud (LO), 0.8%; Emmanuel Macron (LREM), 25%; Marine Le Pen (RN), 27.5%; Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), 18.6%; Yannick Jadot (EELV), 3%; Philippe Poutou (NPA), 0.9%; Fabien Roussel (PCF), 4.5%; Jean Lassalle (Let’s resist!), 4.2%; Eric Zemmour (reconquest), 6.1%; Anne Hidalgo (PS), 1.8%; Valérie Pécresse (LR), 5.3%; Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (DLF), 2.2%. Second tour : Macron, 50.9%; LePen, 49.1%
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Two strong candidates on the right…
On his right, two candidates engage in a confrontation whose outcome is uncertain. While the Republicans had invested at the beginning of the year Jean-Jacques Kégelart, former chief of staff of Valéry Giscard-d’Estaing, Samir Triki (center-right) comes to play the spoilsports. After becoming the local referent of Horizons – the party of Édouard Philippe –, with the unacknowledged aim of being invested by the presidential camp, the mayor of Lavault-Sainte-Anne finally chose to be a candidate outside of all left. ENT surgeon at the Montluçon hospital since 1991 and president of the country of the Montluçon and Cher valley, Samir Triki is a figure known to voters.
… and two on the left
Known, Bernard Pozzoli is also on the left. Former figure of the Socialist Party – he returned his card three years ago – the mayor of Prémilhat waited for the last moment to embark on the battle for the legislative elections and give an alternative to voters who do not find themselves in the New Union ecological and social popular, personalized in this constituency by Louise Héritier (La France insoumise), actress and director.
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Le Pen’s breakthrough
A final uncertainty relates to the weight of the National Rally. Between the presidential elections of 2017 and that of 2022, Marine Le Pen made a spectacular breakthrough, even coming first in the first round in the second constituency. But if we take the example of five years ago, the party’s score in the legislative elections had been halved compared to the presidential election. This year, the National Rally, which has a weak local anchorage, is presenting an unknown candidate from the Vichy agglomeration, who will also be confronted with a representative of Éric Zemmour’s party.
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Second Constituency Overview
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ID card. The second district of Allier extends over the west of the department, in a diamond whose sides are Cérilly, Montmarault, Marcillat-en-Combraille and Huriel, to which must be added the canton of Ébreuil.
According to INSEE figures, this territory lost more than five thousand inhabitants between 2013 (115,446) and 2019 (110,577). It is distinguished by an aging population – half of the population is over 49 compared to 41 at the national level –, housing vacancy (16.6%) twice as high as the average and a slightly higher poverty rate. to the whole of France (16.2% against 14.5%).
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De-industrialization. The constituency has within it the former industrial and mining basin of Montluçon and Commentry, which still suffers today from the consequences of a deindustrialization that began during the postwar boom, with a high unemployment rate and a declining population. However, factories with high added value have managed to survive, starting with Safran – the leading private employer in the Allier –, Dunlop, Landis and Gyr et Amis.
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The train. A real railway star several decades ago, Montluçon today finds itself without train lines worthy of the name. Tracks have been abandoned, Bordeaux-Lyon has been shelved and travel times to reach Paris have lengthened. The only good news: numerous maintenance works have recently been carried out or scheduled on the Montluçon-Clermont or Montluçon-Bourges portions, which at least ensures their maintenance.
Health. Medical desertification concerns the district of Montluçon as much as the others, but it is accentuated by problems linked to the territory: it is more difficult to attract doctors when the trains do not pass, when the spouses cannot find work or when there is not enough higher education available for the children. The issues affect both the network of general practitioners, which has been greatly impoverished in the countryside and in the cities, and the Montluçon hospital, whose staff reductions are worrying in certain departments.
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rurality. A large part of the constituency is affected by issues related to the countryside, such as livestock farming, difficult access to public services, the lack of an alternative to the personal car, the feeling of neglect…
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Guillaume Bellavoine
Deputies under the Fifth Republic. Pierre Bourgeois (SFIO), 1958-1962; Jean Nègre (SFIO), 1962-1967, 1967-1968; Henri Védrines (PCF), 1968-1973; Maurice Brun (DVG), 1973-1978; Pierre Goldberg (PCF), 1978-1981, 1988-1993, 1997-2002, 2002-2007; Albert Chaubard (PS), 1981-1986; Jean Gravier (UDF), 1993-1997; Bernard Lesterlin (PS), 2007-2012, 2012-2017; Laurence Vanceunebrock-Mialon (LREM), 2017-2022.
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